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Thankful Thursday ~ Busyness

Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
~ Psalm 106:47 (ESV)

Wow, December; where did this year go? Do you realize that in 24 days we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior? I love Christmas!

When you saw the title for this week’s post, you may have thought that I lost it or fellow of my rocker. I didn’t; I promise. You see in the month of November I was really busy with portrait photography. I made my clients very happy with the portraits I took of their children/family.

However, when I get very busy, I also get very flustered/disorganized. But not this time. Sure, I have had long nights (which are not yet over), but God has increased my clientele by 80% compared to last year. Wow, stunning, don’t you agree? I could not have it done with the prayers and support from my dear and trusted friends Lori, Lynn, Debbie, Connie, and Erin (thank you ladies for your cheers and prayers). Oh and of course the support of my beloved!

I am also thankful that God has given me the confidence not to give up after the first year. It is said that most photographers give up within the first year. You have to understand, I am not an A-Type person, so drumming up business does not come natural. So I know, it was God’s doing…Thank you Lord! I am also thankful for my former clients recommending my services 😉 .

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving your link to your Thankful Thursday post below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: busyness does not mean we have to be flustered, but gives us an opportunity to show our faith in God and prayers.

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. Lynn (Spiritually Unequal Marriage)
2. The Woman Whom Jesus Loved
3. LaughingLady
4. Nancie @ More Than Conquerors
5. Karen
6. God and Dog
7. Trish @ SAHM’s Notebook
8. Harter
9. Wendy Gunn @ Faith’s Firm Foundation
10. Dena E’s
11. It Feels Like Chaos
12. Laurie @ Women Taking a Stand
13. Karen
14. jackie@God Brought Me Here		 15. genny
16. Chelsey
17. Heather@Becoming A Titus 2 Woman
18. Arlene – Accepting Change
19. Tammy @ Garden Glimpses
20. Snoozing with Grandpa
21. Dawn @ Guiding Light
22. Marsha
23. Jocelyn
24. Brooke @ Smart Strong = Sexy
25. Janet @ Wildflower Thinking
26. Joshlin@Saving Moms Sanity
27. Sherry@MyJourneyBack
28. Melanie @ M&M		 29. Christine @ Wyndsong Writes
30. Jerralea @ Jerralea’s Journey
31. Andi
32. Andrea@PurposeGuide
33. Tiff @ The Faery Inn
34. Judy @ A Homemaker Speaks
35. Michele – Beelieve You Can
36. becky aka theRAV
37. Tracey @ my life and homeschooling
38. Tsunami Gave Thanks
39. Julie
40. Toia @ Designer’s Original

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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Thank you Lori!

Not only did my sweet friend Lori from Lori’s Reflections create a new business logo, she also redesigned my website (click on the image to take you to my website). Lori, thank you from the bottom of my heart to work so hard over this past weekend to get my website up and running. BTW –  my beloved thinks my new website is groovy 😉  .

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I was tempted…

As I was working on my personal blog to update some links, I noticed that my portrait was 2 years old. I asked my husband to take a photo, so my ‘face’ would be more current on my blog and forums.

Being a semi-portrait-photographer (I am saying this since I take portraits only during my spare time), I have all the tools to alter photos. I was really tempted to edit out all my wrinkles and make myself look pretty (at least as good as possible – lol)…

As I was sitting there looking at my face with all the wrinkles I thought ‘why edit the wrinkles out?’ This is who I am; I will be 50 this fall. There are two other reasons why I didn’t edit out the ‘bad stuff’. One – I want to be real here on my blog and everywhere else. I don’t want to mask myself as someone I am not. I want to be transparent to all my readers…no masking needed.

Second – Peter is reminding all women to not adorn themselves with gold or beautiful clothing. Sure, editing photos is not gold or clothing, but I would still alter my outward appearance. I rather be known with a gentle spirit than being beautiful…

“Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” ~ 1 Peter 3:3-4 (ESV)

Now you are wondering about the photo? Well, here it is (I just boosted the colors – oh yeah – and I got my hair chopped off – lol)…

Portrait credit: Mark R. Nelson; Photo Color Action: My Four Hens

You will soon see my updated photo on all the forums/blogs (maybe some in B&W). I am also contemplating on updating the face of my blog to go with the updated me. I really want to show off some of my photography and the current blog template is a little limited…We will see…

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: Stay real – don’t mask yourself. God loves you, wrinkles and flaws included.

PS: thanks sweetheart for taking the photo and for loving me the past 28 years 🙂

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I Really would LIKE…

…to win one of the prizes of the marvelous giveaway at ‘IHeartFaces‘. I don’t enter many giveaways, but this one I just could not pass up 🙂 …

I am trying to build my portrait business, so winning a 6 months membership to “Photo Talk Forum” would be sooooooooooo awesome. The forum is led by one of the top portrait photographers, Lori Nordstrom. Not only does Lori have a successful portrait business for a little over 10 years, she also is a speaker for photography associations around the world.

What an awesome opportunity to learn about the portrait business by being mentored by Lori Nordstrom…

Thanks for stopping by today…

grace_iris1